Why do we use racial categories in to help form our identities?

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Why do we use racial categories in to help form our identities

An individual 's identity is comprised of several attributes including genealogy , nationality ethnic and or race among others . These are the primary attributes that define the person .However other secondary attributes include language , values and beliefs as well as religious or cultural inclicalitious . Racial categories are an important part of every person 's identity . It is one visible characteristic that other people notice in a multiracial society

Thesis statement

As the

world moves towards becoming with no one distinct group , racial categories are important in forming individuals ' identity

Its now widely accepted that the society is becoming more and more diverse as a result of rapid globalization . These evolving racial demographics are more pronounced in the United States than anywhere else in the world . Race has an important place in social interactions along with other aspects such as gender these are the very first visible aspects about any individual [Korgen , O .K , 5] this becomes apparent when you meet people who we cannot place easily in racial categories According to Omi and Winant , 17 , such encounters are uncomfortable and become a momentary crisis of racial meaning

This became very real to me when I first moved to the United States . I settled ion overland Park Kansas I lived in a suburb , went to a private school , and my class only had 42 people in it . So I was the only Japanese girl in class . My classmates had really hard time saying my name or remembering my name , so they just simply said That Japanese girl ' every time they talked about me . After a while , I found myself saying , Hi , I am Tamao . I am Japanese ' This helped me introduce my identity to others and it had a relaxing effect on them to see me acknowledge that I am different . It also served to reinforce my sense of belonging in a society that was predominantly white . Racial categories become one distinguishing feature between people

In Japan only about one percent forms the minority group and the need for the natives to identify themselves according to racial categories is minimal . People there look for other ways to distinguish themselves like dressing and other physical ways . However the trend is gradually changing with an increased number of foreigners visiting or immigrating to the country . As people intermarry , there is created another category of biracial persons who may have physical characteristics that are applicable to two distinct races . In a society full of racial stereotypes , this creates a dilemma for biracial people . It also becomes difficult for others who would wish to place them in a widely acknowledged racial category . It is therefore important that people retain their racial identity because otherwise they face the danger of having no identity at all . In the same way those who have a biracial identity but are physically identifiable with one distinct race are also in the danger of having...